That is the Question
by VeryaTirananniel
Summary: Seven girls there were set out from Home, and Seven there were arriving in Eä. New to The World and All that Is, these girls have arrived near to the end of the Third Age, and both their Gifts and their Flaws will be vital in the quest to defeat the Servant of Melkor and destroy the One Ring. -Human!OCs, Earth-to-Eä fic, contains mature language, violence, & underage drinking
1. Chapter 1

**To open this story I present to you my seven bored Original Characters and their pets. These Girls have their own personalities, flaws, and valuable or commendable attributes, so I hope that no matter who I chose to be my favorite, you all will be able to pick your own from the girls in the group. These girls also refer to each other as sisters although none of them are related, they share a dorm-like house and have male friends which are only mentioned in the story according to my plan so far. I like what I've done with this fanfiction, so I now present it to you, my lovely readers. **

**R/R- your advise may be of use to me in changing the details if I so choose**

**Disclaimer- I own nothing except My Oc's, their pets, and Iris's truck**

OC's:

Iris; royal blue hair, 'boss' figure, 'mother' of the group, age 19

Aly; brown hair with pink highlights, second-in-command, age 18

Erin; blonde, voice of reason, age 16

Mari; redhead, jokester along with April, age 17

April; bleach-white hair, jokester with Mari, age 17

Loki; black hair, military and engineering genius, age 18

Lara; green hair, fighter/defender of the group, age 19

Hades; Ryu's pet water moccasin, black scales

Bosephus; Lara's pit bull, black with a white stripe down his snout

Jezebel; Iris's German shepherd

Pogo and Jenga; Aly and Erin's pet Dobermans

* * *

Chapter 1

"Aly, I'm bored." a black-haired girl said emotionlessly, planking in the grass in her yard.

"Quite obviously." answered another girl, who had dyed her light brown hair with pink streaks.

"Both of you be quiet, everyone knows that no one can be bored-er than me." chimed in a green-haired scene girl, her hair cropped short and her ears adorned with small black gauge spikes.

The blonde girl in the tree merely rolled her eyes, pushing her glasses a bit further up her nose as she flipped a page in her book.

"That's BS, Mari." said a red haired girl to a bleached-white girl, flipping over the top card of the deck in front of them, causing the other to sigh loudly and pick up the deck. The dogs were lazing about, until their powerful hearing kicked in and they started barking, running up to the side gate with their tails wagging.

"Guys, I brought food!" came a call, and all of the girls in the yard looked up to a seventh, blue-haired girl, her black aviator sunglasses mirroring the scene in front of her as she held up a bag labeled 'Taco Bell'.

All of a sudden the books and cards were abandoned as the girls swarmed around the newest addition to the grassy yard.

"Thank you so much Iris!" shouted the redhead, and the sunglasses-wearing girl grinned, patting the first on the head.

"You're welcome April. You're welcome everybody!" she shouted to the general group, smiling when they all gave belated 'thank you' s. the dogs were given dog treats, as nobody wanted them to be begging for food, yet everyone knew how unhealthy human food was for them.

"So Lara, where'd you get the new gauges?" asked Iris of the green-haired girl.

"Oh, Hot Topic ,the usual. Although Mari insisted that they had better ones at Claire's." she shot a look to the bleach-white girl, now dubbed Mari.

"Hey, I never said anything about gauges, I was talking about earrings in general." she pointed at Lara.

"Whatever, you were so talking about gauges." chimed in Aly, her pink highlights going nicely with her own sakura blossom earrings.

"You're all being ridiculous, you know that right?" said the blonde, her brown eyes sparkling.

"You're one to talk Erin." laughed April.

"mmph." said Loki through a mouth full of burrito.

"What?" asked Iris, her left eyebrow raised as she reclined against a tree.

"I said," Loi replied as she swallowed her food, "That we should try and go find the guys' hang-out in the woods today, since they're all out of town."

"that was an awful long sentence for one 'mmph'." observed Lara, smirking.

"Well as long as they're out of town I don't see why not." commented April, absentmindedly cracking her knuckles.

"sure," consented Erin, braiding a lock of hair on the left side of her face.

"All in favor?" called out the blue-haired girl, and six hands shot into the air, although the sixth was deterred by a yawn a second later.

"Alright. Everybody into the house, pack up a backpack with a spare set of clothes, a swimsuit, a towel, a blanket, a weapon, toiletries, a sleeping bag or hammock, something to do, and food. I'll bring the ramen and chips." Proclaimed Iris, and the girls finished off their food as they each proclaimed what they were going to bring.

"I'll bring the pocky and Ramune!" called out Aly.

"I've got the dog food!" said Lara.

"I'll bring bottled water, tea packets and sugar." yawned Erin, as Mari and April claimed that they were bringing spices and pasta.

"and I guess that leaves me with cooking utensils and more dog food. You got the fire kit Iris?" asked Loki, stretching.

"Got it. Let's go, all!" said their leader, who promptly lead the group into the two-story, pale yellow house.

Ten minutes later they all were packed up, and were out in the driveway of Iris's house, in front of her dark blue Chevy Avalanche.

"What a country girl you're turning into Iris, you're driving a truck!" laughed Lara as Iris walked around and opened up the bed of the truck for the girls' bags. The dogs had already hopped into the bed of the truck, with their dog tags jingling merrily.

"don't listen to her baby, you're perfectly fine." she cooed, hugging the truck as Lara rolled her eyes.

"oh get a room would you?" laughed Loki, slinging her bag into the bed before grabbing a window seat behind the drivers' seat.

Aly had already sat in the passenger seat, and had turned the CD player on, and put in Deadmau5's newest album, much to the thrill of the rest of the girls.

Iris waited until all of the girls had deposited their bags before slamming the tailgate up and walking to the driver's side, proclaiming that the last two without a seat had to ride in the bed of the truck with the dogs, and make sure they didn't hop out while the truck was in motion.

Those two happened to be Mari and April, much to the pair's displeasure.

"And if I find even a single stick of pocky missing, I'll leave you both out there to walk the whole way back!" she warned, starting up the truck.

"Alright!" April called back, pulling a pack of gum out of her pocket.

A while later, they were in the middle of nowhere, around the spot they had seen the boys go to whenever they were hanging out.

"So its around here somewhere, I think." said Lara, hopping out of the truck and stretching, taking a sip from a thermos full of coffee before grabbing her bag from the bed of the truck.

April and Mari were already out of the truck and were debating about which way to go from there.

Loki and Aly shouldered their bags and stretched, waiting for Iris to come out of her beloved vehicle.

"Alright Erin, just fold up the map and come on." said their leader as she got out of the truck, her guitar case clutched in her left hand.

After everybody had put on their backpacks, Iris locked her truck, the warning sign on the dashboard saying 'If you even think about touching my truck, you will die a very painful death; I'm watching you.' with a pair of anime demon eyes skillfully drawn beneath the words.


	2. Chapter 2

**When you last saw the girls they had packed up and decided to go into the woods to find the boys' special, no-girls hangout spot while the boys are away. They have just gotten out of the truck at the edge of the woods, with Iris leaving a sign on the dashboard of the Avalanche to ward off anyone who may want to mess with the truck.**

* * *

"Let's go all you happy people." proclaimed Iris, her blue hair put up in a messy bun, her dark blue Celtic knot tattoo on her upper right arm exposed by her black tank top.

They all went into the woods in a general westerly direction, until their phones had lost all signal and they had hardly any idea of their whereabouts.

"Alright Erin, where are we?" asked Aly, stretching out and leaning against a tree.

"Well judging by the location of the sun (it was almost night time) we've been traveling in a general westerly direction for about four hours. That means I have no idea, I can't find the map," she pulled a face as she sat tiredly against the huge tree behind her.

"okay then, that means camp time everybody!" said Iris loudly, dropping her bag onto the ground and setting down her guitar gently.

"I'll be back in five minutes alright? The little girl's bush is calling me." said Lara, ruffling up her hair and picking up her toiletries bag before heading off out of sight.

The others unpacked, claiming trees and patches of ground with their hammocks and sleeping bags, and Iris was busy building a fire in the middle of their little clearing, large rocks piled up in a circle as a fire ring. Her lighter flickering on and off as she flipped the switch, she waited for Mari and April to finish piling up the wood.

"And there we go!" she smiled as the two younger girls backed away and went to go play cards. She walked close to the wood-tent, and lit up a piece of last month's math homework, which she then tossed between the larger pieces of wood and onto the pine straw in the middle, which flared up after a minute.

Lara had come back by now, and had taken out a pot, into which she put a few bottles of water and packets of ramen.

She set it to boil as the others began relaxing, holding it right over the fire, taking turns with Mari.

After it had been boiling for a few minutes and the noodles were soft, she added the spice packets and stirred, before calling out "Dinner!"

The other girls brought out their bowls and forks, all lining up for their helping of the noodle soup.

The dogs lazed about as usual, except for Pogo and Jenga, who had decided to play-wrestle with one another while Jezebel and Bosephus watched on.

They were all sitting around the fire eating when Iris decided that it was time for some entertainment.

"Alright, who wants to sing?" she called, "I need an alto and a soprano!"

"I will!" answered Aly, her soprano voice singing clear throughout the clearing.

"So will I!" called Loki, her slightly deeper voice sounding true.

"On my way!" nodded Iris as she smiled, strumming out the first chords of the song as Loki started the background singing, with April picking up her tin whistle.

Soon enough, Aly began the melody, and was soon backed by the rest of the girls in an out-of-tune fashion as they washed out their dishes once they finished eating, being sure to feed the dogs while they were at it.

Once the song was over and the dishes dried and packed away, the girls dressed down for bed, and crawled into their portable sleeping quarters, the clothes from the next day folded up near their toes to keep them warm. The dogs slept on in their own area of the campsite, grouped together for warmth as their toes twitched in their sleep.

Once everyone was asleep, the black-haired girl began singing to her own tune, the haunting melody of Lacrimosa floating to the heavens and pushing the clouds over the moon.


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, the girls awoke to a near-dead campfire, and a crisp, cool early autumn morning.

Lara was the first up, as usual. She sat up skillfully in her hammock, running a switchblade-style comb through her short hair before wiping off her face with a damp washcloth, taking out a compact, and applying new makeup in her usual scene style.

After that was done, she stood up and stretched, her joints popping loudly in the thick morning silence. In her boy shorts and sports bra, she sauntered over to 'the bush' and relieved herself, before journeying back to her hammock to get dressed.

Bosephus, like a good pit bull, had sensed when his owner woke up, and stretched and yawned before trotting over and flopping down next to her hammock, waiting for the food that he soon received.

By that time, Iris had woken up as well and was in the process of dry-brushing her teeth, a bottle of water open at her side before she took a swig and rinsed, spitting the toothpaste-water out into the woods. Jezebel was busy eating the breakfast her owner had fixed her, having woken up when Lara and Bosephus had.

"Morning boss," yawned Lara, earning a nod and a yawn from her blue-haired leader.

"You the only one up?" she asked, before getting up, her oversized college shirt currently her only covering from the elements.

"Yeah, I'm about to wake up the others though." answered Lara, before biting into an apple and walking over to Aly's hammock.

"Aly," she said mutedly, kicking the bottom of the hammock, and therefore her friend's side.

"What? Is the house on fire?" muttered the half-asleep second-in-command, looking blearily out of the top of her blanket.

"No, but Iris is up, so we had better get everyone ready." the green-haired girl answered, before unfolding the sides of the hammock from their egg roll-like position around the second-in-command of the group.

The pink-highlighted girl carefully stood to avoid falling out of her sleep covering, and her flannel pants contrasted starkly with her dark pink mini spaghetti strap shirt.

"I'll get dressed and stuff, you wake up the others. And don't forget to feed Pogo and Jenga." she said, causing said Dobermans to wake up and shake themselves out, before sauntering over to their owner. Lara nodded, unzipping the sleeping bags of April and Mari and slapping wet washcloths onto their faces.

"Hey!" they cried in indignant unison.

"Get up you two. Iris and Aly are already awake." this was followed by a crash, and a mixed French and Japanese curse of "merde vou, baka!" in a voice undeniably Aly's.

"Let me rephrase that. They are _mostly_ awake. Now get up, both of you." she said, kicking them lightly.

They emerged from their sleeping bags in their shirts from the day before, yawning and wiping off their faces on the washcloths before hanging them to dry over the near-dead fire.

Once Lara had woken Erin, she turned to the edge of camp where Loki's hammock had been, only to find that it was missing, although her pack was sitting neatly against the tree.

"Where's Loki?!" she called, only to be answered by cries of "I dunno!" and one call from Iris, "Where do you _think_ she is? She's probably off doing something important to Loki! That's how she is!"

She had spoken at just the right time, because Loki chose that moment to walk into the clearing with eight fish filets on a makeshift grill of sticks.

"Where did you get those, Lo?" asked Lara, highly confused.

Loki only shrugged when she answered. "Sea turtles mate." with a Cheshire grin.

Iris rolled her eyes at the shadow-queen's antics. Yes, she acknowledged the fact that although she was the leader and Aly was second-in-command, the ever-immature Loki was the most efficient, not to mention the genius of the group.

From her back pocket, Loki pulled out a flat, rectangular bottle, which Lara gawked at, scandalized.

"LOKI!" she shouted, causing the black-haired genius to freeze and glance up from her activity.

"Yeah?"

"what is in that bottle?!"

"moonshine…" she trailed off at the seething look that the warrior-like girl sent her.

"WHY is there a bottle of moonshine in your back pocket?"

"Well greenie I'll have you know…" she stood to her full height, the grill of fish safely secured over the embers and the bottle of illegal spirits in her left hand, "that alcohol of all sorts is wonderful for on-the-spot surgeries, inspiration, revival in the freezing weather, and for starting up fires. Exhibit A." she said, and emptied out some of the bottle's contents in a sweeping motion behind her, causing the small flame below the fish to jolt to life, leaping up at least a foot before returning to a reasonable, noticeably larger size than before.

"Besides, it inspires my military genius in dire situations, as well as quelling the endless sea of sleep insomnia from which I suffer." she said pointedly, taking a small swig from the bottle before swirling the cap back on and stowing it in one of the many inside pockets of her knee-length black trench coat.

Lara face palmed, giving a heaving sigh before Iris walked up behind her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Just leave it, Lara; she knows what she's doing."

"But she's-" Lara stopped herself from finishing the sentence and heaved another sigh at the Italian-Puerto Rican girl before her.

"You better not get drunk Loki, cause I'm not hauling you around if you pass out." she leveled a threatening look at her friend's challenging one, before it softened into a calm, albeit a bit grim expression of acceptance.

"I wont lovely, don't you worry." she grinned widely at the green-haired girl, who heaved another sigh before going to finish packing up.

"Hey Mari, where's the thyme?" called Loki, and was quickly tossed a small canister of dried leaves. "and the adobo, and a lemon?" soon a large cylinder of mostly yellow spice was thrown at her followed by an oval-esque fruit, both of which she caught expertly before seasoning the fish and flipping them over while expertly fending away the dogs, who had been enticed by the heavenly smell of Loki's cooking.

Before long, the fish were done and everyone was packed up.

"Breakfast everyone!" called Loki, and everyone rushed up, to be handed a fish filet on a whittled stick, and a cup of hot water with a tea or coffee packet in it.

"Now hurry up and eat while I put my spices away, so we can go ahead and go." she said as they all ate, and dutifully stored away her spices within the depths of her bag.

"Alright everyone, let's…" Iris trailed off as she saw a large snake slithering through the camp site.

"LOKIIII!" the scream rang throughout the clearing from several mouths, and the black-haired girl poked her head around a tree.

"Yeeesss?"

"WHY IS YOUR SNAKE HERE?" questioned a furious Aly, who had a mortal fear of snakes.

"Aww my poor baby! Were you following us? I thought I told you to guard the truck." Loki cooed to the snake, which flicked out a blue-black tongue in response. She held out her arm, and the four-foot long snake slithered gracefully up it, before settling around her shoulders, beneath her hair.

"I repeat, Loki; why is your snake here?" asked Iris, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"I told him to guard the truck; he is an excellent guard snake when he stays where he's told." she defended, stroking the snake's smooth black scales.

"Lo, he's a water moccasin. He needs to stay wherever the hell you found him." said Aly, her hands on her hips.

"Hey, I didn't find him, I bought his egg off of that guy in The Saint's Pub last year." she defended, crossing her arms.

"Wherever you got him, it doesn't matter; just make sure he doesn't bite any of us, the dogs, or shed on our stuff and we'll all be okay." compromised Iris, to the acceptance of the group.

"Don't worry, he won't be shedding again for a few months; he just finished up last week, didn't you Hades?" she cooed to the snake again.

"Hades? You named the snake _Hades?" _asked Mari incredulously, and Loki shrugged. "Would you rather have me name him Lucifer?" she asked, causing Iris and Lara to chuckle, while April face palmed, and Erin rolled her eyes, finishing up her breakfast.

"Now if everyone's packed up, let's head out shall we? We're going north this time, Erin, put out the fire and Lara, you put an 'X' on that tree right there, with an arrow pointing east." Iris instructed, and the girls followed her directions swiftly so that they could all head out.

Once they did, they were all glad that they had worn the proper clothing for the weather, as though it was still late summer, the chill of autumn was seeping in through their clothes, causing Loki to even take the care of wearing a scarf so that Hades wouldn't strangle her in his bid for warmth.


End file.
